Setting the table - my vision for the NixonMcInnes dining experience
Q: What is our biggest asset?
A: US
In a fast growing, exciting environment, It’s easy to get caught up in the pace of projects and lose sight of who and what we want to be. We might not always get it right at the moment but I’m determined to shape our clients’ experience of working with us into one that is as spot on as dining in a great restaurant.
Picture the scene…you’re feeling hungry, its dinner time; you find a new restaurant, it looks nice from the outside, a well presented frontage, nice menu, well laid out and enticing. You go in. You are greeted by a friendly member of staff who runs the front of house, already you know this is going to be a delightful experience because you can smell the professionalism.
You are taken into an amazing dining room, understated style and a warm ambience. You are seated at your table by the head waiter and the menu is presented to you. The confident and knowledgeable waiter wets your appetite with the story of the day - today’s specials. He/she then gracefully disappears to leave you to marvel in the wonder of this place and the selection of fine food and drink.
The menu is easy to understand and really makes you hungry. The wine waiter appears and assists you with a perfect wine to accompany your meal. Everything runs effortlessly, the napkins appear on your lap without you even knowing. You soak up the atmosphere even more and comment to your dinner partner about what an amazing find this place is, you know that the meal is going to be amazing. You trust the vibe the people have created in this place.
What the dining guests are unaware of is the amazing story going on in the kitchens.
The kitchen brigade are sweating, the energy and organised chaos is turning out an array of gastronomic magic to the paying guest. The love, attention and pure passion going into each and every dish is overwhelming, nothing leaves that kitchen unless its perfect. Each brigade member is on the ball, working in synchronicity with each other. They are able to help and respond. They are alert and on the ball, each person trusts each other. Sure it gets hot at times, but they are all aware of the reason why it is this way and consistently keep their eye on the end goal to ensure that the paying customers will come back for more. The delight that they are causing and the reputation that the customers learn to adore brings them back again and again and they tell all their friends. This brigade is innovating, creative and only interested in giving pleasure to their customers.
This, my friends, is how we must work. We are a tight team who must find effective ways to interface with each other. We must always be available to help and support each other, we must adopt a can do attitude. Why? Because of the end result, our creation of digital delights. Nothing should leave the NixonMcInnes kitchen without being absolute perfection. I cook with love and I design with love and it shows in the end results.
I urge you all to share this vision, get your talent into these dishes, anything less than best is a felony (stole that line from Vanilla Ice).
Our front of house is the phone, our email, our website. Our dining room is the content of the website. Our documents are our dishes and our work. Every touch point with our clients and each other must be perfect.
Be nice, be friendly, be well informed, be a professional, spread the love and create delight. As we know clients are our future income- we must love them, look after them, respond to them - never fail them. Conversely our happiness is contained within each other; we must be honest with each other, true and respectful. We are all important and we must be supported by one another.
Go forth and erm cook….
Thanks to Flickr user SiFu Renka for the use of the pic
Joshua wrote this on 13.06.08 –
It's filed in the NixonMcInnes box
On June 13th, 2008 at 4:17 pm, Ruth responded:
Love it and I hear you totally (as I am sure we ALL do) - after all wasn’t it the the Dalai Lama who said ‘approach love and cooking with reckless abandon’ and he should know. Nice one Josh!
On June 13th, 2008 at 4:35 pm, Tom responded:
What a fantastic manifesto. Love it Josh!
On June 19th, 2008 at 3:48 pm, Telmo Carlos responded:
Brilliantly put. I love the way we work and the way we always improve what you are doing.
Thanks for the inspiration Josh.